NATURE...

...the delicate filigree of newborn leaves makes a canopy over my driveway…fetal leaves...flush with the new life of Springtime...

...as I repose on my deck with tea and tunafish, the Western horizon darkens with looming thunderheads...mercy...it looks to be a genuine toad-choker...perhaps I should do my reposing in the indoors...

...fat drops patter down, washing the encrustation of pollen off the deck chairs...a distant rumble...

...the pink azalea blossoms were hit hard a few weeks ago by a late frost...Nature’s fury takes many forms, rubberneckers...sometimes it is the violence of the thunderstorm, sometimes the insidious Frost Crystal...the azaleas look like hammered dogshit, as do the crepe myrtles...but Springtime’s healing touch is upon us, even now...

...I love nature, I truly do...since I have no day job I get to contemplate it more than most...and right now I hear its call, a soft, insistent voice...

...peace on you, rubberneckers...it’s time to drop the kids off at the pool...perhaps afterwards I will apply my trusty Gillette to my nethers...and then prepare some Ribs Vindaloo and a brace of gin-and-tonics...

...it’s tough being straight and white these days...